cohabitation – more is more.

I mentioned in an earlier post that over the summer I moved into an apartment with a boyfriend for the first time. From the moment we signed the lease I was obsessively thinking about what our shared home would look like and how our different collections of belongings would come together. I am a collector by nature and Jared is the same way. I think collections are great and important and the very thing that make a home interesting and unique. That being said, two inherent collectors of things in 675 sq. ft is a design challenge to say the least.

Compounded on top of the so-many-things issue was the fact that our apartment had so much intrinsic character to contend with. The building was constructed in 1910 and was originally a hotel. The molding throughout the apartment is large and ornate. The windowsills are a full foot deep. I would say that my personal taste has leaned toward the more contemporary for quite some time. In such an ornate and historic space a modern, minimalist aesthetic just didn’t make sense.

I’ve spent the past four months trying (with much assistance from Jared) to piece together our belongings in a way that felt true to both of us. I’ve essentially abandoned any attempts at achieving a specific design style in favor of something that feels more eclectic and more like a reflection of our tastes and our stories. We had another couple over for the first time in July after settling in a bit. Both guests remarked that our apartment felt so much like both of us and I’ve realized that this is the real mark of success in building a home. It’s still (and always?) a work in progress but I’m happy to say that we are cultivating an aesthetic of our own which has been infinitely more fun and rewarding than effectively mimicking mid-century modern, or Scandinavian minimalism or industrial loft-style or whatever. 🙂

Here are some images of our apartment.

Living Room

I don’t always decorate with sports memorabilia but when I do it’s to honor The Big 3